FOUR SALIENT POINTS IN HAVING SPIRITUAL RESPONSE WITH ONE'S DHARMA PROTECTOR
Dharma Talk by Living Buddha Lian Sheng on 1/6/93
(page 206-208 Achievement of Rainbow Light Body volume six) Translated by Yuan Zheng Tang
The importance of Dharma protectors is never overestimated by all spiritual cultivators. In fact, many of my disciples have written to equire about the identity of their Dharma protectors.
Each and every personal deity will have his own Dharma protectors. For instance, the six-armed Mahakala is the protector of Avalokestivara Bodhisattva; and Four-faced Vajra-Prajna mother of Buddha is the protector of Guru Padmasambhava. It is highly probable that a cultivator will share the same protector as his personal deity.
Are our protectors really doing their jobs of protecting us ? When will they show themselves ? These are the frequently asked questions. To ensure that they will appear in person, there are four salient points to observe:
1. Carve the image of the protector. Invoke him and make offering to him. If you are sincere, there is no reason for their absence.
2. Pray to the protector. If you sincerely make offering to him and pray to him, especially in a Homa dedicated to him, he will surely appear to enjoy the things you offer.
3. Chant his Mantra , or recite his name frequently. We must always do so particularly if our protectors are Acala, Bahu-sruta the heavenly King, Genesha , the fortune god, and Mother of Buddhas with the great white parasol . Reciting their Mantra is like calling their telephone numbers. Once the call is through, they will come to answer your prayer.
4. The offering , prayer and chanting cannot be short-lived. Your Dharma protector will not appear in person, if you work hard for one day and do nothing for ten - work by fits and starts. For instance, you chant his mantra , recite his name and pray to him genuinely for the first two days. One week later, you stop the chanting and recital. One month later, all dedication including offering to him cease totally. Your effort will never bear any fruit.
Whether your protector will appear in person or not depends on your effort in spiritual cultivation. If you have made bona fide vows, cultivated for a few years, and have offered and prayed to him daily, in short you have complied with the four salient points mentioned earlier on by me, he will sure to appear to support and protect you. I have made offering to Garuda , ghosts and divine beings for more than two decades and that without fail. When I am on tour, I will tell them the number of days I will be out of station, and will still make a general offering to them. My effort is not wasted, they have appeared frequently to tell me all kinds of confidential information , so I am always in the know for all kinds of news.
Once I sat on the sofa set in the sitting room to relax and regain my energy. I saw a man walking towards my house, and he was followed by a small black snake. When I opened my eyes, my guest had arrived. He told me he did not feel well. I asked him whether he had killed a small black snake before. He replied : "When I was young, I did kill a small black snake in a bamboo bush. I told him that was the cause of his illness. After a soul deliverance ritual was carried out for the small black snake, he recovered. This is how my protector informs me about who will come and with what they want me to help them. With this insight, I am able to find out the cause and effect of the incidents . Therefore you must persevere in making offerings to your protector. Three to five years is not considered long, and three decades or four is not considered short. Making offering to your protector should be a life-long affair, I am sure the protector will appear in person to support and protect you.
Some protectors in a higher level are able to understand the meaning of wisdom and emptiness. Thus they will still protect those cultivators who have never made offering to them. But we should not just concentrate on our personal cultivation to the neglect of making offering to other protectors. Making offering is a form of showing our commitment, and it is always better than not making offering.
Om Mani Padme Hum